Absolutely gutted. 2 of my favorites. Cavendish is a home favorite and on his day the most exciting sprinter. He actually looked in good form. He would have been up there yesterday if he hadn't been pushed, he had the jump on Sagan.

Thanks this might be the perfect sport for a work from home slacker like me to follow

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I grew up watching it. I am not surprised if someone doesn't care for it if they are not raised with it. The same can be said about Cricket, Baseball, or American Football. These aforementioned sports carry a lot of specific rulesets that make those sports unique. But as for a race, it is more cut and dry. Be as fast as you can and finish before everybody else. It's why I like the Tour de France, as with le Mans, Isle of Man, Dakar, Marathons, etc. I do like the appeal of an international effort to be the best, the fastest.

What would make the tour de France better would be to get rid of the stages. Let someone ride for 36 or 48 hours straight if they want to. You want to ride through the mountains in the dead of night? Fucking go for it. No one remembers who won a stage, it's the winner that goes down in history.

Point A to Point B. Here is the course to follow. Rest when you want. That's how it should be.

What would make the tour de France better would be to get rid of the stages. Let someone ride for 36 or 48 hours straight if they want to. You want to ride through the mountains in the dead of night? Fucking go for it. No one remembers who won a stage, it's the winner that goes down in history.

Point A to Point B. Here is the course to follow. Rest when you want. That's how it should be.

Can someone explain what the deal is with watching a bunch of dudes in lycra pedal around fucknig France? Also men's swimming, why do people watch that repetitive crap?

Im guessing with the tour de France there's some kind of team strategy at play im missing?

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its surprisingly entertaining
- even when they are in a group, you are witness such a high pace of energy output. yet knowing their heart rates are still so low. it's almost mesmorizing in a way. super impressive and inspirational
- then some dudes try to srpint away from the group. and sometimes they let the person go, assuming they will catchup eventually since the person cant switch back and forth drifitng with the pelaton (sp?)
- but sometimes the entire pelaton chases
- or sometimes a small group does
- then the race is a group vs the pelaton. and its cool to see if the small group extends their lead. and if they can keep it. or if the pelaton catches up

basically, there's actually a lot of strategy in how the races play out

its surprisingly entertaining
- even when they are in a group, you are witness such a high pace of energy output. yet knowing their heart rates are still so low. it's almost mesmorizing in a way. super impressive and inspirational
- then some dudes try to srpint away from the group. and sometimes they let the person go, assuming they will catchup eventually since the person cant switch back and forth drifitng with the pelaton (sp?)
- but sometimes the entire pelaton chases
- or sometimes a small group does
- then the race is a group vs the pelaton. and its cool to see if the small group extends their lead. and if they can keep it. or if the pelaton catches up

basically, there's actually a lot of strategy in how the races play out

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The realisation that it isn't just about riding in a straight line fast is the best one. It's so much more than that.

The realisation that it isn't just about riding in a straight line fast is the best one. It's so much more than that.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it

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yeah, i think you started this thread right? because of tme constraints, i barely watch any sports, including cycling. i've only watch 1 or maybe 1 and a half tour de frances unfrtunately

my mother got me into it. i showed up some weekend or somerhing and she was about to watch it from DVR the day before and told me not to tell her what happened. i laughed like "firzst off, i have no idea what happened mom. but you're THAT into it, you're going to watch it a day late? and you dont want spoilers? do you even know how to ride i bike?"

she mentioned the stuff above. but it doesnt really click until you see it. its a badass sport

plus, i love the concept of pushing yourself. i consider that sort of pain good. so i LOVE when people sprint. and people chase. you can feel the exertion that they are putting out there, and its almost like i get an endorphine-Rush vicariously

coincidentally, i actually saw a thumbmail for tour de france at the top of my slingtv sports section yesterdya. only through it on for a couple minutes

yeah, i think you started this thread right? because of tme constraints, i barely watch any sports, including cycling. i've only watch 1 or maybe 1 and a half tour de frances unfrtunately

my mother got me into it. i showed up some weekend or somerhing and she was about to watch it from DVR the day before and told me not to tell her what happened. i laughed like "firzst off, i have no idea what happened mom. but you're THAT into it, you're going to watch it a day late? and you dont want spoilers? do you even know how to ride i bike?"

she mentioned the stuff above. but it doesnt really click until you see it. its a badass sport

plus, i love the concept of pushing yourself. i consider that sort of pain good. so i LOVE when people sprint. and people chase. you can feel the exertion that they are putting out there, and its almost like i get an endorphine-Rush vicariously

coincidentally, i actually saw a thumbmail for tour de france at the top of my slingtv sports section yesterdya. only through it on for a couple minutes

how many days into the event are we?

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Cool story. If you like the push, the mountains are worse than the sprint. You can literally see peoples soul leave them when the realise their legs arent under them anymore but damn they wanna win. Just incredible stuff to watch if you can get into it.

I always tell people, go try and ride a bike in a straight line on the flat at over 30km/h. Not that easy, they do that going uphill >5% for over an hour then for the last ten minutes go up to 35+km/h. How on earth you can do that I have no idea.
On the flat <45km/h is slow. That is my full sprint speed!

Yes I started the thread but my work has just gone insanity and I havent had chance to properly get back here to discuss things.

I can only really say I am absolutely gutted to see Peter Sagan and Cav out of the race. 2 of my faves and Cav looked set to make the sprint battle something awesome. He looked calm and ready to go very very fast. Shame.

Cool story. If you like the push, the mountains are worse than the sprint. You can literally see peoples soul leave them when the realise their legs arent under them anymore but damn they wanna win. Just incredible stuff to watch if you can get into it.

I always tell people, go try and ride a bike in a straight line on the flat at over 30km/h. Not that easy, they do that going uphill >5% for over an hour then for the last ten minutes go up to 35+km/h. How on earth you can do that I have no idea.
On the flat <45km/h is slow. That is my full sprint speed!

Yes I started the thread but my work has just gone insanity and I havent had chance to properly get back here to discuss things.

I can only really say I am absolutely gutted to see Peter Sagan and Cav out of the race. 2 of my faves and Cav looked set to make the sprint battle something awesome. He looked calm and ready to go very very fast. Shame.

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oh great point. i frogot about the climbs. (in original "why is it exciting post" i had types "there are sprint days and...." and i deleted it becaus ei coudlnt put my finger on the other unique type day). the climbs are SICK for exactly the reason you mentioned. its mesmorizing watching them do it. SOOO impress

i grew up mountain biking (but also around town non stop). about 20 miles a day literally every day after school. havent gotten into road biking except for a handful of rides on my buddies "light days" (he does triathalons, so his light days are crazy hard for me since i may not have ridden in a year lol)